1. Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to alcohol management systems, and, more particularly, to an alcohol management system, powered by an audio signal, for measuring a blood alcohol content of a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
There exist a number of portable breathalyzers, as well as alcohol consumption trackers which enable an individual to keep track of their drinking habits. However, to date these have generally not been combined in a system which may be readily used by an individual and which may give guidance to the individual on a real time basis.
There are various forms of breathalyzers, including breathalyzers based on chemical reactions which indicates blood alcohol concentration by a change in colour, battery powered electronic breathalyzers and re-usable smartphone powered breathalyzers.
The “iBreath Alcohol Breathalyzer” is a device which can be plugged into the base of an iPhone™ or an iPod™. The breathalyzer estimates the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of an individual, by detecting and measuring the presence of ethanol vapour in the individual's breath. The breathalyzer comprises a semiconductor sensor chip, including a thin membrane of tin dioxide. Connected to the membrane is a small metal heater, which takes power from the iPhone™ or iPad™, to warm up the membrane to an optimal operating temperature. When ethanol gas comes into contact with the tin dioxide membrane, the membrane absorbs the ethanol molecules and the electrical resistance of the membrane changes. A measurement of the changes in resistance gives an estimate of the individual's BAC which can be shown to be related to the presence of ethanol vapour in the breath. Whilst such a device gives the individual a useful indication of whether their BAC exceeds a set amount, for example so as to enable the decision not to drive, this device does not give the user other information which he might use to change his behavior to avoid further instances of high blood alcohol content
There also exist a number of smartphone applications, including means for monitoring the number of drinks consumed.
AlcoDroid Alcohol Tracker, developed by Myrecek discloses an alcohol consumption tracker application for a mobile phone, in which the individual logs the drinks which have been consumed. The EAC is plotted on a chart which is displayed by the mobile phone. This indicates when the individual reaches the legal limit for drinking and driving, or subsequently when the BAC gets back to zero.
Blood Alcohol Calculator developed by Hauki, is an application for a mobile phone, in which the individual may type in the number of drinks of various types, that is beer, wine, spirits and the maximum blood alcohol is calculated and displayed.
Alcohol Calculator developed by Pawel Nadolski, is also an alcohol calculator application for a mobile phone. The individual must enter the number of alcoholic drinks and the time at which they were consumed, to enable the application to display the concentration of alcohol in the blood and the estimated time when the level will drop to an allowable drink driving time.
The Blood Alcohol Calculator developed by CityJams includes a simple calculator, including a list of common drink types. The individual must enter their weight, the hours that have been spent drinking and the types of drinks. The Blood Alcohol Calculator then calculates the BAC.
The Drink Droid Plus BAC Calculator developed by Laby, is an application for a blood alcohol content calculator which estimates the BAC based on the number and types of drinks which have been entered by the individual. A link may be included to the telephone number of a transportation service provider to enable the transportation service provider, to be contacted, when the individual is over the drink and drive limit. You See Pro, developed by NeatWits, is an application for a smartphone in which the individual can record a diary of drinks consumed, to keep track of alcohol consumption.
A further example of a blood alcohol content calculator is jAlcoMeter, developed by Tuukka Haapasalo. The application works by allowing a user to enter each drink as he/she drinks, or later if he/she forgets to add the information at the time. Personal information such as gender and weight is entered to enable the BAC estimation calculation to work correctly. The current intoxication level is indicated. However, whilst this application gives an indication of how intoxicated a person is becoming, it is necessary for the individual to enter details of each drink consumed, which is likely in the circumstances to be inaccurate. There is no possibility of any feedback which would enable them to modify their habits or obtain any indication of whether their drinking habits have caused any long term problem.
KR 100286129 discloses a portable phone having a “drunkometer” function to add the functions of a breathalyzer to a portable terminal A “drunken alarm message” display on the portable phone is connected to an alcohol concentration detection sensor. A ROM connected with the message display, stores the required drunken alarm messages.
Thus whilst portable breathalyzers exist and mobile device applications operable to enable an individual to log the number of drinks consumed exist, there is no alcohol management system available, which gives the individual an easily usable means of correlating breathalyzer information to any potential problems relating to his/her lifestyle and alcohol consumption.